


No Longer

by AnaiyaRhayne



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Manipulative Albus Dumbledore, Severus Snape Has a Heart, Severus Snape Lives
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-22
Updated: 2020-09-22
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:35:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,920
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26593786
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnaiyaRhayne/pseuds/AnaiyaRhayne
Summary: "Being with you here like this? Having you, but never really having you?" He could barely hear the words leaving her lips due to the roaring in his ears, but each one ripped into him like the Sectumsempra curse. "It was enough for a while, but I want more. I need more. And if I can't get that from you, I need to leave - before I go mad."
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Severus Snape
Comments: 7
Kudos: 157





	No Longer

"And what is it you want, Hermione?" He asked quietly, playing with a stray curl.

"You," she replied just as quietly, stunning him. "But you'll never be just mine, will you?"

He laid there staring at her for a few moments before almost imperceptibly shaking his head. She sighed, his reaction confirming what she already knew, but it still hurt.

"And that is why I must leave," she whispered, turning away from him. He froze beside her. He knew she was unhappy, but he wasn't expecting this. 

"Leave?" The word felt thick, foreign on his tongue.

"Being with you here like this? Having you, but never really having you?" He could barely hear the words leaving her lips due to the roaring in his ears, but each one ripped into him like the  _ Sectumsempra _ curse. "It was enough for a while, but I want more. I need more. And if I can't get that from you, I need to leave - before I go mad."

She stood up from the bed and redressed in silence. She felt tears streaming down her cheeks as she prepared to say goodbye to him for the last time. 

"I'm sorry, Hermione," he said quietly, his voice thick with tears. 

"I know," she whispered as she walked to the door. She paused in front of it, then turned to look at him one last time. "Goodbye, Severus."

Thick tears blinded his vision as he heard the door quietly close behind her. 

*-*-*-*-*-*-*

**_2 Years Later_ **

“Granger!” a voice called out from behind her. Hermione Granger silently groaned as she turned to face the one person she didn’t really want to see.

“Yes, Malfoy?” she asked cooly. “Please don’t tell me you need me to do something else for you. It’s the end of the day and I’m mentally drained.”

“No, I don’t need you to do anything else today,” Draco Malfoy smirked. He studied her as though he was looking for something. “Except to come to mine and Harry’s place tonight for dinner. Harry mentioned at lunch that you were looking a little worn down and I have to say that he’s right.”

Hermione groaned out loud this time. Of course her best friend would notice that she’d been working herself to the bone, and while that was one of the many things that she loved about him, all she really wanted to do was to go home and relax. 

“It’s been a while since you last came over,” Draco continued as if he hadn’t heard her. “Harry’s been worried about you.” Draco looked at her pointedly. “And you know I don’t like it when my husband is out of sorts.” 

“Sure, I’ll come over tonight,” Hermione sighed. “If only to show Harry that I’m fine.”

“Hermione, you and I both know that you’re not fine,” Draco said quietly. “I know you too well now and I know you’ve been suffering.” Hermione’s eyes flashed with anger. How dare he presume something like that! He spoke again before she could tell him off. “I dare you to try and tell me that I’m wrong.”

Hermione’s shoulders dropped in defeat. She couldn’t tell him that he was wrong, but she knew there was nothing that he could do about it. The decision had been made years ago, all she had to do was continue putting one foot in front of the other and live one day at a time. She knew that he wouldn’t, that he couldn’t, change how he felt. She looked up at Draco, unshed tears and unasked questions filled her eyes. 

“Hermione, there is something that we need to talk about, that I need to tell you,” Draco murmured. “But I can’t do it here, there are too many ears. Can I follow you to your flat?”

“Yes, of course,” Hermione replied. “Come on, then.”

The pair flooed to Hermione’s flat and sat down on her couch. Draco scooted close to her and took her by her hands. He knew what he was about to tell her was probably going to shock her, and he wanted her to know that he was there to lean on. 

“I know what happened between you and Uncle Sev two years ago,” Draco dropped his first first bombshell and watched as her jaw dropped in shock. “He told me everything that happened that night and everything leading up to that night.” He watched her reactions closely, knowing that if he said the wrong thing, she would close up her emotions and nothing else he said would get through. “He shut himself inside his flat for months before allowing any of us to come in to speak with him. When he finally did contact me for the first time after those months of silence, the first thing out of his mouth was a request to be checked for compulsion spells and anything else that may have messed with his mind.” Draco watched her face as anger melted into understanding, then into shame. 

“What did you find?” Hermione’s voice was so quiet that Draco almost didn’t hear it. 

“I found two complusion spells and two loyalty spells,” Draco replied, rubbing small circles on Hermione’s wrist. “One compulsion spell and one loyalty spell were keyed to Dumbledore. I assume you know what those spells are used for?”

“To compulse the victim to do whatever the caster wants and to remain loyal to that person no matter what else may happen,” Hermione answered, anger creeping into her voice. She remembered just how manipulative the old headmaster had been and how he had used all of them. Then a thought occurred to her that made her freeze, and though she had a feeling she knew what the answer to her question was, she still needed to ask. “Who was the second compulsion and loyalty spells keyed to?”

Draco looked at Hermione for a few moments before answering. He knew what he was about to say wouldn’t shock her in the least, and he also knew that she would understand why whatever feelings she had for Severus would be unable to be returned. He also really didn’t want to be the one to tell her, but when he suggested to Harry that he be the one to tell her, Harry vehemently denied him, stating that after what happened to him last time, he was never making her angry again. So he took a deep breath, let it out, and spoke.

“Lily Evans Potter.”

Hermione sat up in shock. Even though her body felt as if it had frozen, her mind was running a million kilometers a minute. Suddenly everything made sense. From what she had learned about Lily from Remus and Sirius, Lily was one of the most forgiving people that they had ever met, so it didn’t make sense for her to turn so harshly on Severus without good reason, nor did it make sense why Severus held such a candle for her after she had turned from him. The more she thought about it, the more she realized that there was absolutely no way she could blame Severus for not being able to be with her if he was under compulsion and loyalty spells. She looked over at Draco, who seemed to be waiting for a reaction from her.

“Who was the caster?” her normally boisterous voice had turned hard. Draco’s wince and silence told her all she needed to know. “THAT MANIPULATIVE FUCKING BASTARD!”

Her sudden shout made Draco jump a few centimeters in his seat. He had never heard her shout that loud, nor had he ever heard her curse like that and was grateful that he wasn’t on the receiving end of her anger. Trepidation flashed in his eyes when her hair started sparking with uncontrolled magic and knew he needed to stop it before she set her flat on fire.

“Hermione, take a breath please,” Draco soothed softly so as to not startle her. He started rubbing small circles on both of her wrists while continuing to try and sooth her. Slowly, her hair stopped sparking and her breathing went back to normal and when it seemed that she was in control again, he continued speaking. “I was able to remove all the spells from him and continue to check him monthly for anything that might be recurring. Every single month his check-ups come back with a clean bill of health.”

“Why are you telling me about it now?” Hermione asked, though she had her suspicions as to why. “And why hasn’t Severus tried to contact me?”

“The answer to both questions is pretty much the same,” Draco replied, allowing himself to relax a bit. “I’m telling you this now because it’s been a year since I removed the spells and the next step to see if there's a time delay is to bring you in front of Severus.”

“I’ve never heard of a spell being able to be time delayed,” Hermione was confused. In all her reading, such a thing had never come up, but she had to admit that even she hadn’t read everything.

“That’s because it isn’t something that happens very often,” Draco explained, letting himself relax a little more. “Most of the time it’s cast as a defense in order to gain the upper hand in battle using shield spells. All the head auror has to do is encode a certain month, day, or time into the runes that build the spell, and the spell will activate at that certain time without a word having to be spoken.” He continued studying Hermione as he passed along new information. “One of the reasons why I - why we - wanted to wait so long to let you know is because we weren’t sure if the spells would recur after Dumbledore’s death. Severus decided not to tell you because he didn’t want to get your hopes up if the spells recurred.”

Hermione leaned against the back of the couch. What Draco was saying had merit and she wouldn’t put it past Dumbledore to do something like that in order to gain the upper hand and try to ensure the outcome of the war against Voldemort. She closed her eyes against the tears that threatened to fall and thought back on all the moments she and Severus had shared. She realized that even though two years had passed, she still loved him and wanted to be with him and from what Draco was saying, or rather what he wasn’t saying, he wanted to be with her. She felt the walls that she had built up come crashing down around her and the tears that had threatened to fall were now flowing down her cheeks. She barely felt it when Draco wrapped her up in a hug to comfort her as she sobbed. She cried not for herself, but for Severus and all the sacrifices he had had to go through before Draco finally released him. She realized she needed to see him and she felt her heart clinch as her sobs softened. Finally she looked up at Draco.

“When can I see him?” she asked after conjuring a handkerchief to clean her face. 

“I can have him summoned here tonight if you’re amenable,” Draco answered, sure of what her answer was going to be. 

“I’m more than amenable,” Hermione quickly said, giving Draco a small smile.Then she asked a question that had been on her mind for a while. “Is he - is he mad at me?”

“Why would he be mad at you?” It was Draco’s turn to be confused. 

“Did he not tell you how I left the last night we were together?” Hermione asked, tilting her head.

“No, he didn’t,” Draco shook his head. “He only told me of the good times that you and he had, and he always painted you in a good light. He admitted that he would have voiced his feelings for you if he hadn’t been under those damn spells.”

“His words?” Hermione’s eyebrows raised at the language.

“Not exactly,” Draco smirked. “His language was much worse, I can assure you.”

“Of that, I have no doubt,” Hermione chuckled lightly. Now that she knew Severus wasn’t mad at her for how she left, she was even more open to seeing him again. “How quickly can you summon him?”

“He can be here in just a few minutes if I use my house-elf, Tipsy, to go get him,” Draco answered. “Or he can be here in about an hour if I use my patronus.”

Silence filled the room while Hermione pondered her answer. On one hand, she wanted to see him as soon as she could to try and clear the air between them. She knew that she shouldn’t blame him for how he acted, as he was under a spell, but there was a small seed of doubt in her mind that he wouldn’t want to see her after how she left. She shook her head, knowing that she should stay positive, and asked Draco one last question before she made her decision.

“I should have asked this before,” she started in a small voice, focusing her gaze on the floor. “But does he want to see me?” 

“Hermione, look at me,” he softly commanded. He watched her head slowly rise before making eye contact with her. He cupped her cheek with his palm before continuing. “Yes, he wants to see you. You were all he could talk about once I freed him of the spells.” He chuckled before continuing. “I would have thought he was a bloody Hufflepuff with the way he was acting if I didn’t know any better.” He brushed her hair out of her eyes. “Now you just need to decide how quickly you want to see him.” 

“Use Tipsy, please,” she slowly grinned, thoroughly surprising him with her answer. Everyone knew how she felt about house-elves, but since it was the fastest way, she would overlook Tipsy’s use - this time. Draco tampered his surprise and nodded.

“Tipsy!” he called out, and the small house-elf appeared in front of him.

“Yes, Master Draco?” she bowed. 

“Please go to Mister Severus Snape and tell him that I need his assistance with something,” Draco informed her. “If he asks where you’re taking him, please tell him that you’re not allowed to say.”

“Yes, Master Draco,” Tipsy replied and apparated away. Draco looked at Hermione and saw that she was starting to tremble again. 

“Take a deep breath and relax, Hermione,” he coached softly. She nodded, lowered her head, and did as he asked. Before anything else could be said, the crack of apparition filled the room.

Severus whipped his head around and immediately caught sight of Draco and Hermione sitting side by side. Draco stood to greet his godfather, but Severus’s eyes never left Hermione. After a quick hug, Draco waved his wand over Severus to check him over. The grin that filled his face after completing his diagnostics confirmed that the spells had not returned. 

“Well, Uncle Severus, I was right,” Draco smirked. “The spells are completely gone.” Hermione’s head whipped up after the words left his mouth and there was no mistaking the joy that filled them when her eyes immediately met Severus’s. Still, she kept silent, not knowing what she should say to the person that used to be the most important in her life. 

“Draco, will you excuse us, please?” Severus quietly asked, never taking his eyes off of Hermione. “There is much we need to discuss.”

“Discuss...right,” Draco smirked, though he flinched when Severus shot him a nasty look. “Alright, I’m going. Call for Tipsy when you’re ready. And Hermione, I’ll let Harry know not to expect you tonight after all.” 

Neither Hermione nor Severus flinched when Draco apparated away, though neither said a word for several moments. Neither wanted to be the first to say something, though they both knew that they needed to talk. 

“I’m sorry.”

“What?” Severus was shocked. Never had he expected those words to be the first to fall from her lips.

“I said, I’m sorry,” Hermione breathed, closing her eyes and bowing her head. “I never should have left like that, I should have-”

Before she could say anything else, Severus had crossed the room and pressed his lips to hers. He pulled her into a tight embrace and kissed her for several minutes before having to part, both gasping for air. He rested his forehead on hers. 

“Hermione, there is  _ nothing _ you have to be sorry for,” Severus breathed, kissing the tip of her nose. “ _ I’m _ sorry that I didn’t notice that there was something wrong. All my years as a spy and I had no idea that I was under a spell, and more than one at that.” He pulled her head to his chest and rested his chin on top of her head, holding her tight. “Believe me, if I could set ablaze the arsehole’s portrait, I would do it gladly - after interrogating him for answers as to why.”

“As if he would give them,” Hermione snorted against his chest. “His only concern was the damnable ‘greater good’ and keeping you under his thumb.”

“No longer,” Severus whispered, his voice thick with emotion. “No longer."

“No longer,” Hermione agreed, lifting her head to once again meet his gaze. “And no longer do you have to wonder if I still want you - if I still need you - because I do.” She raised up and gently kissed him. 


End file.
